Liverpool bowed out of Europe with a whimper as their 1-0 win away to Atalanta tonight wasn’t enough to undo the damage of last week’s 0-3 defeat at Anfield.

However, some Reds fans may be left wondering if things might’ve worked out differently had the referee taken a different view of one moment in the first half at the Gewiss Stadium.

Shortly before half-time, Isak Hien was booked for handball as he cut out what could’ve been a gilt-edged chance for Luis Diaz, who argued that the Nerazzurri defender ought to have been sent off for denying what he felt was a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Speaking on punditry duty for TNT Sports, ex-LFC striker Peter Crouch raged (via Liverpool Echo): “I was screaming for a red card straight away. You can see he leans into the ball.

“There was a definite move of the arm, and I think Diaz is going in here. I think he takes the touch across him. I think that should be a red card. If you look here, he leans right into it and I don’t think the player is covering behind him.”

Fellow pundit and former Liverpool player Gary McAllister shared the Englishman’s indignation, saying: “I think it is denying a goal-scoring opportunity. If it gets to Diaz without the handball, I think his first touch is taking it towards the middle of the goal and away from the covering centre-back. You could argue that it should be a red.”

READ MORE: Klopp may be quietly satisfied with one part of Liverpool’s night despite Europa League exit

READ MORE: Paul Gorst hails ‘unbelievable’ player who provided ‘what Liverpool have missed’ v Atalanta

Referee François Letexier would’ve been within his rights to have sent Hien for an early bath, as the Atalanta defender quite deliberately handled the ball and prevented Diaz from being put through clean on goal.

Had the Sweden international been shown a red card, or had the Liverpool attacker got to the ball and gone on to double his team’s lead on the night, the second half could’ve had a very different feel to it. Imagine if the home side were trying to hang on with 10 men, or the Reds needed only one goal after the interval.

That incident has left a sense of ‘what if’ over our Europa League exit, but the harsh truth is that we simply didn’t do enough over the two games to deserve anything other than quarter-final elimination, having only played well during the first half tonight and been downright putrid at Anfield a week ago.

We could argue all night that Hien should’ve been sent off, but LFC still had 45-50 minutes to find two more goals and frankly didn’t look like scoring even one.

Europe is done – let’s make sure we don’t have any regrets over the final six matches of our Premier League campaign between now and 19 May.

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Alisson Becker is playing just his second match tonight since returning from a hamstring injury which sidelined him for two months, but Liverpool fans certainly don’t have to worry about the goalkeeper being rusty.

Shortly after the Reds took an early lead against Atalanta through a Mo Salah penalty, pulling back one of the three goals they require to cancel out the first-leg deficit, they were almost caught out at the other end.

After Gianluca Scamacca flicked the ball on to Teun Koopmeiners, the Dutchman put in a low cross towards the edge of the six-yard box. His compatriot Virgil van Dijk got a leg to it but looked like he was about to turn it into his own net until the Brazilian stopper somehow adjusted his footing and got back to claw it away from danger.

The offside flag then went up for an infringement earlier in the move, but Alisson wasn’t to know that when he miraculously reacted to stave off a real scare for Liverpool. That’s why he’s the best goalkeeper in the world, bar none!

You can view Alisson’s stupendous save below, taken from beIN SPORTS’ match coverage and shared via @AlmedaDufo75613 on X:

تابع الحساب الاساسي :@iT7HD pic.twitter.com/cL6bh9j7LR

— ليالي الابطال (@AlmedaDufo75613) April 18, 2024

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Liverpool fans attending the Europa League clash against Atalanta tonight will have been in for quite a shock when they first laid eyes on where they’ll be situated.

Anfield Football shared an image of the away end at the Gewiss Stadium where the travelling Reds will hope to see their team pull off a remarkable comeback from 3-0 down from the first leg, and to say that it isn’t the lap of luxury would be an understatement.

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The stand is positioned behind a fence, which isn’t a welcoming feature to begin with, and it looks for all the world like temporary seating which was wheeled in for this match, with metal poles around the sides and back and seats which don’t exactly scream comfort.

Of course, Liverpool supporters couldn’t travel to Bergamo when we last played Atalanta away during the global pandemic in 2020. Their base for tonight’s match has a ramshackle appearance to it, for sure, but hopefully the Reds will give their fans a night to remember nonetheless.

You can view a photo of the away end below, via @AnfieldFootball on X:

The away end at Atalanta pic.twitter.com/b0jCqtQHWB

— Anfield Football (@AnfieldFootball) April 18, 2024

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Liverpool fans around the world are hoping for miracles to come true against Atalanta and those lucky enough to be in the stadium are not exactly being given the best seats in the house.

Taking to X, writer Dave Kirby replied to a video posted on the club’s accounts that showcased the sights in Bergamo and had quite the response.

READ MORE: (Video) Alisson: injury comeback ‘was really hard’ but now ready to be ‘part of the fight’

Alongside an image of the stand our supporters will be sitting in, the Scouser wrote: ‘Lovely images – the complete opposite of the ramshackle shitty stand where the LFC fans are gonna be shoved.’

Let’s hope those present can actually see the pitch and that they get to witness a genuine piece of history.

You can view the image and post via @DaveKirby01 on X:

Lovely images – the complete opposite of the ramshackle shitty stand where the LFC fans are gonna be shoved. pic.twitter.com/ikdWg3jF1X

— Dave Kirby (@DaveKirby01) April 18, 2024

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You could forgive Liverpool’s lineup for experiencing deja vu after Jurgen Klopp encouraged his Liverpool side to give their all in Bergamo and to ‘fail beautifully’ if they must fail at all.

It was a similar rallying call issued to the squad ahead of a fateful return leg in the Champions League against Barcelona back in 2019.

Winning will, arguably, be an even harder outcome to achieve coming up against Atalanta’s likely raucous home ground.

Yet, try Klopp’s men must to keep alive any hopes of a treble-winning campaign.

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READ MORE: ‘Final negotiations’: Next Liverpool manager closing in on Anfield move; agent bought apartment

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Liverpool team news vs Atalanta

Alisson Becker is the man handed the task of patrolling between the goalposts in Italy.

The Brazilian international will be protected by a centre-back partnership consisting of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate.

The midfield selection will see Alexis Mac Allister joined on the pitch by Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai.

Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Mo Salah are the men entrusted with leading the line ahead of our impending encounter in Bergamo.

Give em’ hell, lads.

You can catch the full team news below, courtesy of @LFC:

How we line up to take on Atalanta #UEL

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 18, 2024

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Atalanta ruthlessly put Liverpool to the sword at Anfield last week with a deserved 3-0 victory, but Gian Piero Gasperini’s side then paid the price for four minutes of madness in their subsequent game.

The Nerazzurri seemed well on their way to victory when leading relegation-threatened Verona 2-0 at home after 56 minutes in their Serie A clash on Monday night, but things quickly unravelled for the Europa League contenders.

The visitors’ first goal saw Berat Djimsiti ran ragged as he tried and failed to deal with the surging Tijjani Noslin. He passed inside to Darko Lazovic, who was left with ample time and space to pick his spot and halve the deficit.

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Just three minutes later, Matteo Ruggeri criminally turned his back as Fabien Centonze whipped a cross into the penalty area, and Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi came for the ball but got nowhere near it, with Noslin tucking it home for the equaliser.

Jurgen Klopp will no doubt have noted those defensive lapses from Gasperini’s team and may take encouragement from how easily Verona scored those two goals to rescue a point at the Gewiss Stadium.

Liverpool have produced several legendary European comebacks before, and if a team who sat 17th in Serie A can expose Atalanta’s frailties at the back, then the Reds could certainly do so if they’re at their clinical best on Thursday night.

You can view the two Verona goals from last night below, via @footballontnt on X:

Through the legs of the defender and Darko Lazović gets one back for Hellas Verona

@tntsports & @discoveryplusuk pic.twitter.com/piFnEF7ap5

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 15, 2024

In the space of four minutes, Atalanta surrender a two-goal lead to Hellas Verona

Liverpool take notes…

@tntsports & @discoveryplusuk pic.twitter.com/yywSaIBFOt

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 15, 2024

The post (Video) Four minutes of madness from Atalanta may give Liverpool hope of another famous comeback appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

Jurgen Klopp is facing a significant dilemma regarding his team selection for Liverpool’s Europa League quarter-final second leg against Atalanta, and the topic has divided opinion among pundits and journalists.

The Reds need something of a miracle to preserve their European campaign as they trail 3-0 from the first leg at Anfield, and Thursday night’s fixture in Bergamo is the first of four away matches in just 10 days as LFC also chase the Premier League title.

Momentum isn’t in our favour, having lost our two most recent games and gone three without a win for the first time all season, and debate has raged as to whether the manager should hold some key players in reserve for Sunday’s domestic clash at Fulham, given the improbability of us progressing in Europe.

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Speaking on the It’s All Kicking Off podcast (via Daily Mail), Chris Sutton said: “I think the nature of Jurgen Klopp, he’ll go strong. He has to because he might as well try and win everything, and being involved in so many competitions maybe has caught up with Liverpool. 

“The fact that they lost against [Crystal] Palace… had they beaten Palace, then maybe he could have thought along those lines of we’ll go for the Premier League because we’re still in command of that, but now he’s got to go for broke.”

However, Ian Ladyman thinks the incentive of a win at Craven Cottage ought to take priority, saying: “I would go reserves at Atalanta and then hope that his first team can make a statement performance away at Fulham next weekend, because you’ve got to realise [that] if they beat Fulham, they go ahead of [Manchester] City again.

“They go ahead of City. Psychologically, that could just give them a foothold.”

READ MORE: ‘Lack of conviction’ – James Pearce suggests £120k-p/w Liverpool ace has been way below his best

READ MORE: Naby Keita could face Werder Bremen chiefs’ wrath after what he did prior to 5-0 drubbing

You could make a case for both sides of the dilemma that Klopp is facing regarding his team selection for Thursday night.

On the one hand, he won’t want Liverpool to go out of Europe with a whimper, and he may be buoyed by their 5-0 win away to Atalanta when they last visited in November 2020. A repeat scoreline is highly unlikely but would see us advance to the semi-finals.

Conversely, the manager could deem it best to play the percentages and prioritise the Premier League, particularly as a win on Sunday could see us go top of the table for a couple of days at least.

Man City’s FA Cup fixture against Chelsea means they won’t be in top-flight action, so the Reds winning at Fulham would see us go above Pep Guardiola’s side, and potentially Arsenal too if they slip up away to Wolves on Saturday night.

Klopp has the relative luxury of nearly a full selection at his disposal, so he could reasonably make several alterations for both games without either starting XI necessarily being a ‘weak’ or second-string line-up.

Either way, we should expect most of the squad to feature in either or both of our next two fixtures, in the hope that those on the pitch can help us to a couple of wins and ensure that the recent blip doesn’t turn into a full-blown post-Easter malaise.

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Liverpool fans could not have imagined our season collapsing so quickly and dramatically but we still have a glimmer of hope of turning things around, starting with a game against Atalanta.

Speaking on ‘The Gary Neville Podcast’, Gary Neville said: “[Liverpool] could still gather that emotion, they could go to Atalanta and do something ridiculous knowing them – that’s the way they are in Europe.”

READ MORE: (Video) Not Klopp’s fault; Neville makes scathing Liverpool squad statement

It would be a monumental ask to go to Italy and score three or four goals without reply, especially whilst playing the way the team are at the moment.

Let’s just hope that the improbable does happen and that it can provide us with the impetus to regain the form we need to try and win either of the two competitions we’re still in.

You can watch Neville’s comments (from 11:40) via Sky Sports Premier League on YouTube:

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Jamie Carragher has sought to clarify what he meant by advising Liverpool to go with a ‘second string’ line-up for the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Atalanta.

The Reds’ European involvement is dangling by a thread after they lost 0-3 at home to the Serie A side last Thursday, leaving them with a huge mountain to climb for the return fixture in Bergamo later this week.

The Sky Sports pundit advocated for a much-changed line-up to be fielded in Italy in deference to the Premier League campaign, although he’s insisted that he wasn’t calling for a virtual under-21 team to be put out against the Nerazzurri.

Awful result & performance from Liverpool, the only consolation about getting beat so heavily is Jurgen should play a full second string in the second leg & go all in for the league!

— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) April 11, 2024

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Speaking to the Liverpool Echo on Saturday, Carragher clarified: “When I said ‘second string’ I wasn’t talking about the kids. I meant, you know, give Trent [Alexander-Arnold] a game, give Diogo Jota a game, Curtis Jones, maybe the goalkeeper [Alisson Becker] plays.

“When you’ve got to play four away in 10 days because they’ve got to go to Atalanta on the Thursday and then Fulham on the Sunday, I was just thinking playing your best team and trying to give it absolutely everything and it might not be enough, because it is going to be tough.

“Then you go to Fulham and you’re not at your best and it doesn’t go well at Fulham, you are then falling behind in the league. The Premier League title is so much bigger than the Europa League. We all want to win both but we have put ourselves in a difficult position but we have still got ourselves in a great position in the league.

“We’re in a better position in the league than we are now in the Europa League, so for me I just think the league is too important, especially if we win against Crystal Palace. Fulham is much more important than Atalanta and even getting through.”

READ MORE: (Video) ‘I’m told…’ – Journalist hints at Liverpool’s ‘preference’ in new manager search

READ MORE: (Video) ‘It blew my mind’ – Sky pundit makes ‘Sunday League’ claim about what he’s seen from Liverpool

There’s logic to Carragher’s suggestion that Jurgen Klopp may be best advised to play the percentages and field a much-changed line-up next Thursday, given the scale of the task that Liverpool face in Europe amid a Premier League title charge where there’s no room for error.

The German was questioned over the alterations he made to the team for the first leg, with his decision to start with Mo Salah, Luis Diaz, Andy Robertson and Dominik Szoboszlai on the bench backfiring as then Reds sunk to a heavy defeat.

However, considering the spate of injuries with which we’ve had to contend earlier this season, it makes sense for the manager to utilise the enviable squad depth that he now has, especially with such a hectic period of crucial fixtures coming up.

Obviously we want to see Liverpool excelling on all fronts, but if a European exit on Thursday is the price to pay for winning every Premier League match (and ultimately the domestic title) until the end of the campaign, most fans would probably sign up for that right now.

Klopp could still go with a reasonably strong team against Atalanta and make a few alterations for the Fulham clash three days later with what he’d consider to be the ‘best’ starting XI available to him.

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Liverpool remain on the hunt for a new manager, with plenty of names having been touted as potential successors to Jurgen Klopp.

However, Serie A expert James Horncastle believes that one man who hasn’t been ‘talked about’ in relation to the Reds job is being erroneously overlooked.

He was at Anfield on Thursday night to witness Atalanta romp to a 3-0 win, and he claimed that the coach responsible for masterminding that eye-catching result ought to be ‘in the conversation’ for openings at Europe’s biggest clubs.

Speaking on TNT Sports, Horncastle said: “There’s a big vacancy here in the summer, and Gian Piero Gasperini doesn’t get talked about. Over eight years, he’s probably punched above his weight per his resources more than any other coach. I think he should be in the conversation for more of these jobs.”

The 66-year-old has indeed worked wonders during his eight years in charge of Atalanta, taking them from a modest mid-table outfit to a team consistently qualifying for Europe, including three successive third-place finishes and a run to the Champions League quarter-finals in 2020.

Last night was his second time winning away to Liverpool, having also done so three seasons ago, and his work in making a relatively modest budget go very far could actually make him quite suitable to the job at Anfield.

Whether he’d opt for such a move at this stage of his managerial career is another matter, but we can definitely see why Horncastle is championing the case for Gasperini.

You can view the pundit’s comments in full below, via @footballontnt on X:

"They've normalised the extraordinary!"@JamesHorncastle discusses Gian Piero Gasperini's incredible work at Atalanta…

@julesbreach pic.twitter.com/IYOvjlutjH

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 11, 2024

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Liverpool fans will have been left scrambling for reasons to be optimistic after witnessing their team succumb to a feeble 0-3 defeat at home to Atalanta on Thursday night.

A first loss at Anfield in 14 months leaves the Reds on the brink of Europa League elimination, barring a miraculous turnaround in Bergamo in next week’s second leg, but before then comes a crucial Premier League assignment against Crystal Palace.

Thankfully, Jurgen Klopp’s team haven’t been too accustomed to that losing feeling throughout the season so far, and there are three reasons to suggest that we’ll get the ‘reaction’ that he’s promised when the Eagles visit Merseyside on Sunday.

READ MORE: Klopp explains why he didn’t call upon Trent during Liverpool’s defeat to Atalanta

Liverpool have yet to lose consecutive games this season

Thursday night was only the sixth time that the Reds have ended up on the losing side in 2023/24, with the others coming against Tottenham (September), Toulouse (November), Union Saint-Gilloise (December), Arsenal (February) and Manchester United (March).

As can be seen above, LFC haven’t lost more than once in the same month, with the three matches between the FA Cup exit at Old Trafford and the Atalanta defeat last night by far their shortest unbeaten run of the season (it had been six games from Spurs to Toulouse prior to that).

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Near-perfect response straight after defeats

Not only have Liverpool yet to lose twice consecutively this term, their response to defeat has been almost flawless, as seen from their results immediately after each of those first five losses:

1-2 v Tottenham -> 2-0 v Union Saint-Gilloise

2-3 v Toulouse -> 3-0 v Brentford

1-2 v Union Saint-Gilloise -> 0-0 v Man United

1-3 v Arsenal -> 3-1 v Burnley

3-4 v Man United (AET) -> 2-1 v Brighton

Four wins and only one draw straight after their five defeats prior to last night suggests that the Reds don’t tend to dwell in self-pity for long.

READ MORE: Jurgen Klopp makes ‘promise’ to Liverpool fans after ‘really bad performance’ against Atalanta

Liverpool have yet to go three games without a win this season

Having drawn at Old Trafford last weekend and then lost to Atalanta, Klopp’s side are at risk of going three matches without a win if they fail to beat Palace on Sunday, but that’s something which has yet to happen to them so far in 2023/24.

In fact, it’s only the third time that they’ve failed to win consecutive fixtures (following 1-1 v Luton/2-3 v Toulouse, and 1-2 v Union SG/0-0 v Man United), so thankfully we haven’t fallen into any major rut in recent months.

The closest Liverpool have come to any sustained drop-off are a couple of sequences where they won just one match out of four, which happened in November and also just before Christmas.

There’s no guarantee that those statistics will remain intact beyond the weekend, but the evidence is there to suggest that the Reds quickly put bad results behind them to get back into the winning habit. That’s exactly what they need to do on Sunday if they’re to maintain their Premier League title challenge.

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It was a chastening night for Liverpool at Anfield to say the least as Atalanta came to town and stunned us all with a thoroughly deserved 3-0 win.

There was a strangely subdued atmosphere at a stadium which is known for its raucous European nights, although the home fans who stayed until the bitter end showed a classy touch shortly after the full-time whistle.

As noted by James Pearce on X, the Reds supporters who were still in the ground recognised a magnificent performance from the away team by clapping them off the pitch in acknowledgement of how masterfully they played.

Atalanta players being applauded off by the home fans.

— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) April 11, 2024

READ MORE: Sneering Man United fans should actually be seething over Liverpool’s humiliation last night

READ MORE: ‘The reasons I did it…’ – Klopp stands firm over Liverpool team selection despite Atalanta rout

At many other English venues, such an abject performance from the home team would elicit deafening boos at the full-time whistle.

Although some jeering could be heard at Anfield, that was dwarfed by the recognition of Atalanta’s outstanding display, a classy touch that the visiting players and supporters would’ve surely appreciated.

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Even during some bleak times for the club in the past, it takes a lot for Liverpool fans to boo their own team, and it must be remembered that last night was our first home defeat in 14 months. That’d be a utopian scenario for almost everyone else in world football.

Rather than taking their frustrations out on a group of players who’s given us so many great memories in recent years, most of the Merseyside faithful preferred to acknowledge one of the best performances given by an away team in L4 for a long, long time.

Credit to those at Anfield who rightly applauded Atalanta’s efforts – Gian Piero Gasperini and co deserve every bit of praise they get for how they played on Thursday.

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Jurgen Klopp hasn’t completely ruled out the possibility of a Liverpool comeback in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Atalanta, but he’s under no illusions as to how much of an improvement will be needed if it’s to happen.

The Reds’ European hopes are dangling by a thread after they were deservedly beaten 0-3 at home by Gian Piero Gasperini’s side on Thursday night, having produced their worst performance of the season in front of a subdued Anfield.

The German was left with the unenviable task of facing the media after that horrendous result, and he did his best to summon some level of defiance while also recognising how tall an order we face to try and turn the tie around.

Klopp told TNT Sports afterwards: “Can we win in Bergamo? Yes – if we play good, it’s possible. Can we win 3-0? I have no idea.”

He added: “In this moment [Atalanta] are practically through, but another game comes and they realise they are not through yet. They have to play another game and we get another chance, but playing like tonight we don’t have to think about a chance.”

Even by Liverpool’s standards, it’ll take an extraordinary Lazarus act to retrieve such a large deficit in the away leg against an Atalanta side who were very good value for their 3-0 win – this was by no means a smash-and-grab from the Serie A outfit.

Some Reds fans will point to our 5-0 triumph when we last played in the Gewiss Stadium in November 2020 as reason not to give up hope, but there was nothing from Thursday night to suggest that such a result is in any way plausible.

Hopefully we can net an early goal in Bergamo next week and potentially put a few chills up Italian spines, but it’ll require a seismic improvement on the calamitous first leg display to even threaten a comeback.

You can view Klopp’s post-match reaction below, via @footballontnt on X:

"There's nothing really positive to say"

Jurgen Klopp reflects on 3-0 loss to Atalanta at Anfield with @Becky_Ives_…

@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/qFlyV8qM2t

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 11, 2024

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Harvey Elliott was denied by not one but two pieces of goal frame as he came agonisingly close to putting Liverpool in front against Atalanta tonight.

In the 26th minute of the Europa League clash at Anfield, the visitors could only clear a Kostas Tsimikas free-kick straight to the 21-year-old, who shifted the ball onto his left foot before letting fly.

His curling shot struck the crossbar and then came back down off the post and back into play before the away side eventually cleared their lines.

It was mightily unfortunate for Elliott, who must’ve thought he’d be about to celebrate his fourth goal of the season when he got his shot off, only for the woodwork to thwart him on the double.

You can see the 21-year-old’s attempt below, via @footballontnt on X:

Desperately close from Harvey Elliott… 🫣#UEL pic.twitter.com/7AB7li00RT

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 11, 2024

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Not for the first time this season, Liverpool were indebted to Caoimhin Kelleher as he pulled off an exceptional early save against Atalanta at Anfield tonight.

Inside the opening five minutes, the Irishman was called upon to deny Mario Pasalic from close range, blocking the ball with his face as he well and truly put his body on the line for his side.

Subsequent camera close-ups showed visible scars on the 25-year-old’s left cheek after he took one for the team, and his teammates in front of him will have been breathing a sigh of relief after some ponderous defending in the lead-up to the Croatian’s shot.

Any team in the world would miss Alisson Becker, but Kelleher has made the Brazilian’s injury absence a whole lot easier to negotiate, with this save arguably the best of an impressive lot.

You can view Kelleher’s heroic save below, via @footballontnt on X:

What a stop from Caoimhin Kelleher!

How are Atalanta not ahead… 🫣#UEL pic.twitter.com/1MSQo96SOh

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 11, 2024

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